Wanna bet?
by klainesflirtyduets
Summary: In which Sebastian is the only person available to drive Kurt to Blaine's grandparents' estate, where his birthday will take place. The problem? They hate each other. But they would do anything for him. Meanwhile, Santana and Rachel (and everyone else, really) bet on whether they will or will not finally solve their sexual attraction. [Kurtbastian;PezBerry;Blaine/Elliot.]
1. Chapter 1 A

CHAPTER 1. A

Elliott morphed his face in a worried expression, when he saw his boyfriend bended over the table of his grandparents' dining room, his face completely and stubbornly buried in his arms as if he wanted to be suffocated by them.

"Blaine?" he called, getting closer quickly to him. He put his hands on his shoulders, in a shy attempt of consoling him from whatever thing had caused his sudden misery. He hoped it wasn't anything too bad. He was so happy and serene just a few moments ago, enthusiastic for his party preparation and for the presence of all his friends there with him. And there he was, easily the emblem of desperation.

His boyfriend mumbled something intelligible. Elliott relaxed after that. That was the sign that whatever thing was bothering Blaine wasn't that serious: he was just being a drama king as usual. Regardless of that, he started slowly massaging his shoulders and back, feeling his tense muscles melt nerve by nerve. He then gave him a little kiss on the back of his head and felt Blaine sigh tiredly.

"You want to tell me what is it that is bothering you so much?"

Blaine sighed again, before turning his head slightly, showing his will to talk to him but not to interrupt that improvised massage. "I just heard from Nick and Jeff. They're gonna arrive here from Los Angeles without stopping by in Westerville."

Elliott's eyebrow got up. That didn't explain much, so he waited Blaine to continue.

"So I wanted to call Wes, but then I remembered that he was taking his girlfriend and his children, which means that his car will be full. Then I thought I should talk to David, but he didn't planned to stop in Westerville either. And Trent's arriving in a few, he just texted me a few minutes ago."

"..so what?" Elliott asked, still confused. Blaine moaned softly in satisfaction when his boyfriend rubbed his fingers on a particularly sensible spot of his back, the he resumed talking.

"So the only available person that can give Kurt a lift is Sebastian."

"Ah." Elliott said, starting to share Blaine's worries.

"But the fact that he's available doesn't mean he is _willing_ to do it, or that Kurt would accept being helped by Sebastian. Which I highly doubt." Blaine bitterly thought out loud. "I guess this is just a divine punishment for wishing that _both_ my best friends could come at my birthday contemporarily for once. Silly me."

Elliott couldn't do anything but laugh at his boyfriend's dramatic attitude, though he knew he wasn't wrong. It was absurd, really. And also pretty frustrating, to be honest. When Blaine had asked his friends to come even though there would have been the both of them, he wasn't too hopeful. He never wanted to get his hopes up, because one they never said yes in the past. Because of that, when both had accepted Blaine was so damn _happy_ , so enthusiastic. He was happier for their presence than for his own birthday, Elliott was sure.

In other past occasions, they always backed out and bailed out on him with poor excuses, such as sudden, life-or-death kind of work problems, family meetings or super important school exams, and a promise of passing some time together before or immediately after what Blaine had organized to make up for being the worst friends ever.

Sometimes it was Kurt, sometimes it was Sebastian. Blaine suffered anyway.

If they hadn't known that the two of them hadn't been talking for the previous five years, since Blaine's graduation party, he would have thought that they had a deal going on. It surely seemed like it. But _why_ they acted like this was still a mystery.

Blaine had told him their past history. From what he heard, Kurt and Sebastian had never really liked each other, since the very beginning, when Smythe tried to break Kurt and Blaine up. And he knew that things got even worse when Sebastian nearly blinded Blaine with a slushie aimed at Kurt. But Sebastian had begged for forgiveness and Kurt seemed okay with him as long as he didn't try to break them up ever again and trusted Sebastian's desire of becoming one of _the goods._ And, as Blaine told him, Sebastian really changed after a series of happenings in his life. He really did and that's why his boyfriend found in him a true listener and reliable friend.

So it was unlikely that Kurt was still offended because of the things that happened when they were in high school, since he was the first one to preach about forgiveness and tolerance back in time. And surely it wasn't because of jealousy for Blaine, as Kurt himself had pushed him and Blaine to go out together: it was thanks to him that they started dating and fell in love with each other. Moreover, Elliott knew him well enough, he was one of his closest friends: he had never pictured Kurt as childish or egoistical, not even at the beginning when they roomed together in Bushwick, nor he had ever given him reasons to think badly of him.

With Sebastian, things were basically the same. The Sebastian that Elliott became friends with was the _new_ one, the one who already was Blaine's best friend. He hadn't known him as long as Kurt and it took time for him to open up ( probably just because he was friends with Kurt ), but eventually it happened. It was mathematic, really. Even _if_ he had any prejudice about him for being Kurt's friend, they probably vanished when he realized that Elliott intended to be around Blaine for long time.

And that was what confused both him and Blaine. Why was he so willing to accept someone that could easily not to be trusted but not his best friend's other best friend?

It didn't make any sense.

At first, Blaine suspected it was because of jealousy and pride. Before and after the break up with Kurt, Sebastian had been his anchor: he had been there when Blaine cried his eyes out because he missed his – later ex – boyfriend and he probably never digested that Blaine had waited for him to come back with his arms open and welcoming like he was the prodigal son.

On the other hand, Kurt – understandably so – hadn't really swallowed how the relationship between Blaine and the guy who once had hit on his boyfriend when they were still a couple. And yes, maybe at the beginning there could be some resentment and – why not – fear of being replaced, but after five years, it kind of looked pretty stupid, because it was obvious that Blaine loved the both of them equally and in different ways and wasn't going to leave them behind or to prefer one or the other. So it couldn't be that.

Something happened between the two, both Blaine and he were sure of that, but that topic was not to be touched with neither of the two nemesis. They just moved the attention to other things or just plainly told them to mind their own business whenever they tried to discover something more about that unreasonable hatred they shared towards each other. Eventually, they stopped asking.

It seemed like they just pretended that the other didn't exist and made sure to avoid any given possibility of being around one another. Basically, they were just acting like stubborn judgmental pricks who couldn't put aside their divergences, not because they couldn't but because they didn't want to. It was childish and frankly, Elliott was tired of seeing Blaine suffer because his best friends made him feel like he had to choose or something like that. It was time.

"You know what?"

Blaine looked up from his arms and met Elliott's eyes with his own, noticing his boyfriend's sudden change of tone. "What?" he asked, curious and unsure at the same time.

"You should ask Sebastian to give Kurt a ride."

The curly-haired boy looked at him like he had grown two heads. "Are you crazy? You do remember that's basically a miracle that they both accepted to come in the first place, right?"

Elliott rolled his eyes, crossing his arms against his chest and looking reprovingly at Blaine. "Babe, you _need_ to stop tolerate their childish behavior. They're twenty-three, for fuck's sake, it's time that they get their shit together and start acting like grown-ups capable of behaving like civilized human beings even in front of someone they can't stand."

Blaine messed his hair up even more by passing his fingers through them in frustration. "You're right." He admitted, "I just hope they won't hate me too much for this."

Elliott chuckled lightly before bending to kiss Blaine on his forehead. "You know, you're surprisingly easy to persuade. I should have told you this ages ago. And by the way, they could never hate you even if they wanted."

"Well, maybe not hate me, but I'm pretty sure they will insult me to no end. I do know that I've let them get away with a lot of their actions in these years. But, you know, I'm also convinced that they kept doing this thinking to _protect_ me in some disturbed, contorted way."

"Without doubt. You know Sebastian and Kurt deeply care about you. The problem is that they're also two idiots. Please, remind me why they hate each other so much? They're so alike they could be the perfect couple." Elliott half joked.

"You're kidding" Blaine said, with a smile that was half embarrassed and half amused, "but I've actually always shipped them a bit. Even when I was still with Kurt." He confessed.

Elliott's eyes widened. He looked quite impressed.

"Excuse me? You thought that your beloved boyfriend and the guy who wanted to get into your pants looked good _together?_ "

"You don't understand. You didn't get the chance to see Kurt and Seb in action. They were..powerful. It was intense, seeing them interact. You would have shipped them too, trust me." Blaine said with honesty.

Elliott lifted his brow and smiled wholeheartedly. "You work in a mysterious way, Blaine Anderson." He said, shaking his head. Only he could fell in love with such a strange individual. But really, he should have known this from day one. It's not that common to start liking romantically someone when they start singing with you a song called _Glitter Rock Vampire_ after a bad fallout.

"What can I say? Even if I was in love with Kurt, my heart knew that _he_ wasn't the one." Blaine answered with a wink. At that, Elliott rolled his eyes and laughed again, before leaning towards his boyfriend and kissing him senseless. "You're diabetic. And diabolic." He mumbled against his smiling lips.

"I don't know if the two things can possibly go together." Blaine joked, but Elliott just shrugged, looking lovingly into his eyes. "I don't know. But I've told you, you work in mysterious ways." He whispered. Just whispered, because the way Blaine looked at him made even breathing difficult. How was it possible after nearly five years?

"You love me anyway."

"I wouldn't want you any other way." He corrected, before leaning in again.

"Jeez, you're in a fucking estate, guys. Do you really need to be disgustingly lovey dovey in the main room?" Santana exclaimed, entering the dining room and making them both jump.

"Jeez, you're in a fucking estate, Santana. Do you really need to interrupt and ruin every moment with my boyfriend?" Elliott parroted, even though he wasn't really pissed off. He was used to Santana and her attitude, after years of sharing an apartment and seeing her bitching about everything and everyone. He loved her, regardless of her bad temper, and he knew she loved him back, even though she did everything in her power to annoy him.

"I'm sorry, I can't really help it. It's a natural talent of mine" she replied with a smirk and a wink, getting closer to the table Blaine was still seated at. Santana let the box she was holding fall on the old wooden surface in front of her without any grace. The content of the box made an awful noise, but hopefully it wasn't anything that could easily break. Both Elliott and Blaine had insisted with their other friends on never, _ever_ letting Santana touch or even get close to anything breakable in that house. She was just incapable of being tactful – in every sense - and everything in there was probably worth more than all their useless lives put together.

"So" she resumed, unperturbed, "Who's going to bring Lady Hummel's pale ass here? And more importantly, when? He's such a pain in the neck, but he sure does how to organize things, with all his obsessive-compulsive quirks." Santana asked, opening the box and starting to grab things out of it. "Uh, this must be ancient. We could re-use it." She said, inspecting an old banner that said _Happy birthday, Blaine._ If he remembered correctly, it was from his tenth birthday party. He smiled, thinking at the sweet surprise that his grandparents had prepared for him. But then he remembered Santana's question and his smile dimed a little.

"I'll ask Sebastian."

The latina girl looked at him dumbfounded for a few seconds, before bursting into laughter. "Oh god, good luck with that, dwarf. I wanna be there when you call them." She said and laughed again, like it was the funniest thing ever. Blaine wasn't so amused.

In that moment Mike Chang, Tina, Mercedes and Rachel – who until a few moments previous were somewhere in town buying only god knew what for the party -entered the room, looking as perplexed as Elliott and Blaine while staring at Santana. "Why is she dying with laughter?" Tina asked, while she helped Mercedes with another box. Mike put the chairs he was carrying (as he didn't want to risk ruining the marble of the floor) down and Rachel quickly sat on one of them, after leaving the packet of paper napkins – because they were _so_ heavy to hold – on the table.

"Blaine wants to ask Smythe to drive Lady Hummel here."

The four friends looked at Blaine with a mix of amazement and concern. Amazement, because the guy got guts. And concern, well, for obvious reasons.

Elliott rolled his eyes. "Seriously, am I the only one that thinks that Kurt and Sebastian need to get their shit together and stop acting like children?"

"Yours are noble intentions, oh my less cool clone of Adam Lambert. And Frodo, here, has every right to say something to those two hysterical geese." Santana said, "The problem is, they will never accept. It's like talking to two fucking peacocks."

"Well, they both are very stubborn. And definitely excessively proud." Mercedes stated, giving Blaine a look that said _sorry, boy_.

Blaine pouted. "You're not helping, guys."

"Honestly, I think you're a tad overdramatic." Elliott said. He was _not_ letting those guys discourage his boyfriend after all his work. Not that the convincing part had been a tough one, but still.

"You don't understand." Mike insisted, "You have no idea of how explosive Kurt and Sebastian were in the past."

"Yeah, so you keep telling me." Elliott spat, irritated. God, he wished he had been there to see them just so that those guys could stop repeat that he could not understand. It was getting old.

The Asiatic guy continued: "The thing is, we remember how they were. If things are gonna be like in the past, even putting them in the same building is risky enough. But with all the resentment they may have bottled up in the years, I can't even imagine what could happen if they were in the same car for a second, let alone for five hours."

Blaine let out a muffled, desperate sound. "I'm starting to regret inviting them both in the first place"

Elliott gritted his teeth and looked darkly at Mike, who looked very scared for a moment. Then he turned to point his finger at Blaine, as his brother-in-law had taught him to do. "Blaine, we already discussed it. You need to talk to them anyway. You can't just chicken out like this nor Kurt and Sebastian should have the chance to repeat their usual trick this time too and keep running away from their responsibilities."

"Yeah, well" Tina said calmly, "they'll learn to deal with their problems, because Kurt has to be here for the party and Sebastian cannot bail out on that. Spoiler alert, Kurt has with him pretty much all of our presents for Blaine, so Smythe better give in already." She concluded.

Elliott looked at her like she was his new divinity. Bless you, Tina Cohen-Chang, he thought, and thank you for existing and for being the bestest of Blaine's best friends.

"And anyway" Tina wanted to add, "Presents aside, I don't think they would say no now. They care too much about you to kill one another, knowing how much it would hurt you, too. The very worst that could happen would be them arguing all the way till here."

Yes, Tina was _definitely_ his new royalty. All hail queen Tina!

"Or them fucking like rabbits" Santana interjected, "But that would be the best thing that could happen. God only knows the levels of sexual tension they would reach in that car."

"Oh my gosh, Santana. Why are you always so _crude_?" Rachel exclaimed, looking resented on his best gay's behalf.

"And how are you always such a prude?"

"I am _not_ a prude, I just don't get why you feel the need of being so assuming of people's sex lives." She replied.

"I'm not assuming anything, darling, it's something everybody has always known. There's not a single person in this room that doesn't think that there was something between them. God, all this fucking Blaine thing is probably due to the fact that those two were so deep in denial for liking each other that they confused it with hatred." Santana spat, "And God, you are even worse, you have fucking hams in front of your eyes! You wouldn't recognize interest and attraction if they hit you in the face!"

Silence fell. They all watched, frozen in their spots, as Santana started to breathe normally again, under the gaze of a wordless Rachel Berry.

Well, Elliott thought, that rant had been interesting, to say the least. First of all, it had given him a new perspective on the situation between Kurt and Sebastian. If Santana – and everyone else, really - was right, the only thing that Elliott could think of was that those two were two freaking morons. But even more idiotic than how he saw them before. But that meant that the situation could finally be adjusted, with a little bit of luck on their side.

And secondly, he discovered that there was someone more clueless and sentimentally-slow than his own boyfriend, and that person was Rachel Berry.

"That's not true." Rachel eventually said, with a serious tone. "And I still think that Kurt is not that stupid. For starters, he would never like someone like Sebastian. The guy has changed, sure, but he still not is Kurt's type. Secondly, admitting an hypothetical and completely absurd sexual attraction between them in the past, I still cannot see how it could affect them now, after five years of not seeing each other. Wasn't it, always hypothetically, the aim of their doing?"

Santana smirked, now completely again in herself. "Because distance makes you want to fuck harder."

"Oh my, I always thought that it said « _absence makes the heart grow fonder_ »" Elliott joked to himself. Blaine snorted and looked at him with a complicit smile.

Rachel crossed her arms on her chest. "Santana, they hate each other's guts." She insisted.

"Well, hate sex is the best. They'd be great at it. No, they _will_ be great at it. _Boom._ "

"Santana, stop it."

"If you're so sure, wanna bet on it?" the Latina asked, challenging Rachel with her waiting hand. The girl stared at her with fuming ears and bright red cheeks, gritting her teeth while she considered.

"Yeah, okay." She decided, eventually, grabbing Santana's hand with firmness. "If I win, you'll stop being a bitch to me. Alright?"

"And if I win, you will do anything I'll ask you to do." She grinned wolfishly, as if she was sure to win the bet. "So, Anderson. It's your turn. _Call them._ "

Blaine sighed, grabbing tiredly his phone. He preferred when the attention was on Santana and Rachel's argument, really. He scrolled through his contacts list, stopping with his thumb over Kurt's name. But then, he changed his mind. Better starting with the weaker one.

"Hey, Seb" he said, over enthusiastic, "I have to ask you something…"


	2. Chapter 1 B

**Here's chapter 1.b. If the first was just the introduction, this may be a filler one. But, you know, the story needs some foundation before getting interesting lol this is even shorter than the first one, probably, but I hope you like it anyways. Enjoy some Kurt and Sebastian :D**

 **CHAPTER 1.B**

When Blaine told him that – of all his acquaintances and friends – the person who offered to give him a lift to Blaine's grandparents estate was non other than that meerkat face of Sebastian Smythe, Kurt laughed. No, he _bursted out_ laughing, with a heartfelt, loud laughter, the kind that makes you tear up and make your face and abdomen hurt. It took him more than a moment to recollect from hilarity and catch his breath. That was how hilarious that sentence was.

"Very funny, Blaine" He said, wiping the tear at the corner of his eye, "So, who's going to drive me there? Jeff? David?"

Blaine didn't answer immediately. From the other end he heard what sounded like a resigned sigh and Kurt felt his stomach contract unpleasantly. "Blaine, tell me you were joking." _Tell me you were joking or that you're under the influence of powerful hallucinogens_ , he thought as a bad sensation settled on his heart.

"I'm not kidding. I've just talked to him, he's a hundred percent okay with it. The others don't stop in Ohio, Sebastian is the only one still in Westerville."

Kurt swallowed thickly, his throat gone completely dry. His tongue felt like sandpaper on his lips, when he tried to wet them uselessly. "Blaine, really, I can just rent a car-"

"No" Blaine interjected, "You spent too much already for coming, I don't want you to waste any more money when there's no need."

"I'd pay for Sebastian's gas anyway." He answered, secretly hoping that Blaine would change his mind.

"Yeah, well, but paying for gas is not paying for a rented car. It's not worth it. You're staying for days and you wouldn't use it a single time." Blaine reasoned, clearly a little pissed off. "And besides, I've already talked to Sebastian and, as I told you, he's okay with it."

Kurt wasn't exactly sure of the truthfulness of Sebastian's agreement. He'd always despised him. If he was doing this, it wasn't for magnanimity, but probably just because Blaine was blackmailing him or something. He doubted Sebastian was that masochistic. The fact that they both would be present at Blaine's birthday party was exceptional and potentially disastrous as it was and it was a pretty evident sign of how much they cared about him.

Sharing for five long hours a space of two cubic meters though? That was basically suicidal. It would be a miracle if they both reached the destination completely intact. God only knew what could happen. Clearly, neither him nor Sebastian himself had ever wanted to find out, if those five years of avoiding each other like the plague were an indication. But apparently Blaine was willing to stretch even more that thin thread of equilibrium between them.

"Blaine.." he tried again, discouraged, but his best friend cut him short.

"No, Kurt, listen to me, will you? You and Seb are my best friends. I know you've got history and that both of you never really swallowed the "sharing me" compromise – even if that makes me feel a little objectified. Anyway, it's been _five years_ \- five stupid years that you hate each other, apparently without any reason whatsoever, and that you make my life a living mess with your tantrums. I'm sick of this situation. Dammit, it's time to grow up, don't you think? You both say that you care about me, that you're my best friends – and _you are_. But show me for once. Try to act like adults, try to put aside all your paranoia and your stupid prejudices. It's _time_."

Woah. That was quite the outburst. Kurt was pretty sure he hadn't seen – or, well, heard – Blaine so worked up since their break up. He wasn't in front of him, but Kurt could picture him, with his fists closed tightly, his cheeks shining pink, his eyes bright for unshed tears of frustration and his chest moving up and down after spitting out what he had bottled up for god knew how long.

Guilt washed over him in a second and closed his stomach. Blaine's words came like a slap in the face, like a bucket of ice-cold water straight in the face, that made him realize that he was slowly drowning in a sea of egoism.

Because that was what he and Sebastian were: two fucking selfish pricks. They thought of doing the right thing for Blaine, avoiding each other like this, making sure of never putting him in the middle of this useless feud, but they basically just forced him to adapt to their game without asking how he felt about it.

And ouch. He was an awful friend. The worst friend ever (after Sebastian, obviously). But if his offer was an indication – and he hoped it was – Sebastian had realized this too and was willing – like him – to change things, to be more mature about their problems. Just like Blaine said, it was time to grow up.

"Blaine?" he called, making sure his best friend didn't hung up.

"..yeah?" he answered after a few seconds. He sounded a little bit cautious. If Kurt knew him well – and he did -, Blaine was feeling guilty for vomiting all those things. But he shouldn't be. He was right.

"You're right. And I want to apologize. I've been an awful friend, but I want to fix this." Blaine was silent on the other end, so Kurt cleared his throat and continued. "I accept Sebastian's offer."

Sebastian cursed for the umpteenth time the day he decided that Blaine fucking Anderson was he fucking best friend. Fuck Blaine, fuck his shiny, puppy-like eyes and his cute smile, fuck his lovable persona. It was because of him that he was on the verge of an aneurism.

And fuck himself too, because if he hadn't been so damn weak, if he hadn't fell for him, he wouldn't be here waiting to know if he was _actually_ going to spend five dreading hours with that pain in the ass of Kurt Hummel and, because of that, close to a nervous breakdown.

If he went completely mad, the fault would be all Blaine's. And if Kurt Hummel suddenly disappeared, it would be always _his_ fault. It was his idea after all. _He_ asked him to drive the person he hated the most to his grandparents' estate for his birthday.

"Kurt's car is broken." He had told him, like Sebastian cared. "And he's spent already enough money to come from New York, I don't want him to pay for a renting car. And besides, you know the way."

Sebastian had wanted to snarl something about the fact that Hummel's father was a fuckin' mechanic, that it was Hummel's bloody business if he spent too much to travel to Ohio from New York, maybe point out the existence of GPSs and underline the fact that tons of people would be willing to help him. After all, _everybody_ loved Kurt Hummel, everybody wanted him to that party. So why _him_? It wasn't a mystery that the two of them didn't stand each other. Sebastian didn't voice it that much to Blaine out of respect, but it was pretty fucking obvious anyway.

And it was as clear that Hummel shared the sentiment. That was why they hadn't seen each other in nearly five years, even though they both were important in Blaine's life. Between them there was this pact, this silent agreement based on complete absence of contact that made that truce possible. They were like Russia and the US during the Cold War: they made diplomacy their only weapon, because they were very conscious of the fact that a direct conflict would be destructive for themselves, for everyone around them and especially – _especially_ – for Blaine.  
Both him and Hummel always tried to gravitate around him, making sure of always being there for Blaine, being a constant presence in his life, in a synchronized dance that made possible for them to never cross ways, so that tiny, fragile equilibrium between them would not be broken and their friendships would be safe.

Neither him nor Kurt wanted to "share" him with the other, but at the same time they would never put him in front of a decision. They weren't so stupid, nor so cruel.

So they were left to try forgetting each other in any way possible. And this dance, this holy agreement had been working so well so far. So well that he was nearly capable of neglecting completely the existence of Kurt Hummel. Nearly, because pretending that Kurt Hummel didn't exist was pretty fucking difficult, when the whole world seemed to love him and see him like a mystical creature.

When it came to Blaine, Sebastian could stand it. After all, Hummel was his first love and damn if his ass wasn't a treasure, especially in those tight pants. But the worst thing was that Blaine wasn't the most _obsessed_ with him. In actual fact, his best friend rarely addressed Hummel in any topic, since Sebastian had clearly stated that the he would never discuss the "Hummel topic".

 _The others_ were the problem. And for the others, Sebastian meant all the people that had met Kurt Hummel at least once in their lives and that – for some incomprehensible reason, probably under a dark magic spell – had fallen in love with him. Figuratively and not. His Dalton friends? They were _incapable_ of not talking about him, about the _ol' good Dalton days with Klaine_ , even when he had nothing to do with the discussion. Sebastian still didn't know how or why, but Kurt Hummel was always to be quoted or brought up in each and every context. He was omnipresent and poisonous for every person Sebastian cared about. And he didn't understand _why_.

He had met him, Kurt Hummel. At the time he was a jealous, snobbish prima donna with a voice so unnerving that could annoy the shit out of a bloody _saint_. He remembered him with a snarky, bossy attitude and a mouth that could make the toughest man cry, if he wanted to, and that surely could keep up with his own. But other than that, Kurt Hummel hadn't seemed nothing particular to him. In fact, Sebastian believed that he could snitch Blaine out of Kurt's hand easily.

That hadn't been the case. Luckily, the two of them were actually in love (even though Sebastian didn't see Kurt as nothing but a nice ass) or Sebastian would have fucked Blaine and the boy wouldn't have become his best friend and his life would've been a lot less nice.

Anyway, the point was : Kurt Hummel wasn't that interesting. Except for the satisfaction of ruffling his feathers when he flirted with Blaine, he hadn't impressed him. Sebastian could have easily forgotten him, if he hadn't become his worst pain in the ass of his life without really trying.

Sebastian's contempt had started to replace the initial indifference when Hummel and Blaine broke up, when he and Blaine were abandoning their roles of simple acquaintances to become real friends. Sebastian remembered well how Hummel was always in Blaine's mind, how he was the cause of his tears; he remember how he comforted his best friend when, desperate and sobbing, he'd confessed to have cheated on Kurt because he felt lonely and because he missed him, but said boyfriend was too busy in his new shiny life in New York to fulfill his duties of boyfriend. He remembered the growing hatred when Kurt didn't answer the phone and let Blaine suffer like that, the annoyance when – after all – Hummel had decided to return in Blaine's life because he was still his best friend.

And God, Blaine was _so damn_ happy, so enthusiastic to have his ex in his life again, so eager to make up for the wasted time.

Sebastian had got scared. Scared of losing him, to be just a useless shadow in his life. He was jealous and that jealousy started to change into rivalry the moment Blaine told him – without much thought – that Kurt was pretty dumbfounded when he discovered about the evolution of their friendship. But he smartly decided to adhere to that non-aggression pact between them. For Blaine. Just like Sebastian.

Because may be an asshole, but he had a heart – a heart that was weak in front of Blaine Anderson. Especially when he teared up. And that was why he agreed on that stupid, crazy idea. He just hoped that Hummel was tougher when it came to Blaine's shit.

As he thought that, his phone started to ring. He looked down at the screen, where Blaine's smiling face stared creepily at him. Man, he should change that selfie before he got nightmares.

After a sigh, he accepted the call.

"What did he say?" he asked, straight to the point; his fingers crossed on his table. _Please Hummel, be smart for once._

"He accepted."

 _Holy fuck_.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When Blaine told him he was going to send Sebastian his number, since they had to sort some logistic stuff out for the following day, Kurt prepared himself for the worst: assolish comments, general rudeness and a few insults too – maybe some offensive remarks regarding his taste, his voice or his appearance; basically Sebastian Smythe's usual repertoire.

But when he texted him later that night, to Kurt's utter shock, the conversation went incredibly _well_. And for well, Kurt meant in a surprisingly and worryingly civilized way.

And so damn _formal_.

In Sebastian's messages there was no trace of sarcasm, not even the slightest hint of their old resentment.

You would think that Kurt felt reassured by that unexpected apathy from Sebastian's part, but that actually made him even more nervous. He was okay with dealing with rudeness and sarcasm and hatred, but with _this_ Sebastian – so quiet and tamed and different from the person Kurt knew in high school? Kurt didn't know how to act with this new him. And more importantly he didn't know how to deal with _himself_ , he didn't know if he could interact just as formally, if he could control himself and not let his sorrow and his bitterness out on him.

And that sucked. It really, really sucked.

.

Six in the fucking morning. That's the time they decided he had to be at Hummel's. That meant waking up at four to be there on time. That was mental, really. Yes, he wasn't the biggest sleeper and he woke up embarrassingly early on his own, but that didn't mean he liked it or that he liked to leave the bed before the dawn. In fact, he may have suffered from insomnia, but he still enjoyed the comfortableness and the warmth of his mattress. Being out and about at four A.M was depressing and kind of annoying. If we had been alone, he would have left Westerville at least two hours later, but _no_ : he had to pick up the twink and _then_ actually head to their destination. And god, at these early hours it was freezing outside. When he went to the garage earlier, his car was a bloody fridge: he was pretty sure that if he'd licked the window his tongue would have stuck glued to it, like in those stupid cartoons his little brother loved so much.

Speaking of his little brother, he hoped Hummel wouldn't be a prick in front of him. And he also hoped he wouldn't wake him up with that screeching voice of his: Benjamin was sleeping so peacefully and unperturbed in his safety seat, which was a relief, really. The little guy hadn't slept at all that night, not when he was so excited to go on a trip with his big brother and spend some time with _Blainey_ too.

Sebastian sighed, looking at the tiny boy in the backseat through the rear-view mirror. He didn't know how to feel about him being there with him. In a way, Jay's presence reassured him; he wasn't alone in this dreading epopee to help Kurt Hummel and save everyone's ass. But he was also worried, because - well, he wasn't the easiest person when he was with others, _especially_ with Hummel, who, for some unknown reason, was able to extort the worst out of him. Sebastian didn't want his favorite five-year-old to know this side of him. Jay looked up to him and he didn't want to lose that privilege.

And if it did happen, he would _hate_ Kurt Hummel. And her mother's boss too, because it was her that sent her on that stupid last minute emergency trip out of state. Sometimes Sebastian wished she wasn't so good at her job.

He sighed again, slowing down his speed as his car passed by Lima's incoming sign. The moment of truth was getting closer and closer, as he surpassed every traffic light and every crossroad. Soon his GPS told him he was arrived: he pulled over in front of a modest, but definitely comfy detached house. And there, seated on the steps before the door, looking just as sinful and gorgeous as he remembered from high school, there was Kurt Hummel: a perfect – and kind of sleepy – angel of death. _His_ death.

He got up. Sebastian could not help himself but _look_ at him. He hadn't seen him for years and _damn,_ if time hadn't been good to him. Sebastian wondered if it had tamed that attitude of his too.

Ignoring the strange – but not so unfamiliar – tingling feeling in his stomach, Sebastian got out as Kurt slowly walked up to him.

"Hummel." He greeted, trying to be as formal as he could – just like he did with his texts.

"Smythe." He replied, as reserved and studiedly calm as he was. They didn't make any eye contact, though they were standing at less than thirty centimeters from one another. Sebastian eyed Kurt's suitcase and his bag and his brow automatically went up: he was bringing _a lot_ of things for such a brief period of time. Yes, they would stay at Blaine's grandparents for a few days, but it wasn't like Blaine didn't have a washing machine. Sebastian had packed one simple bag for both him _and_ Benjamin, while Hummel – well, he kinda went overboard. As usual.

He didn't open his mouth to comment on that though because, again, he didn't want Jay to see him being his awful self. And he was still sleeping, too and he didn't want Hummel's screeching voice to wake him up.

He opted for opening the truck of his vintage Audi; from the corner of his eyes, he couldn't help but notice how Kurt eyed his car in awe. He wasn't the type to brag about his money or the things he owned, but it made him secretly gloat when people appreciated his baby.

But that brief moment of satisfaction quickly burned, because as he was lifting his enormous suitcase to put it inside the car, Kurt stumbled in another one of his bag. Sebastian felt his heart stop for the longest, most terrifying second of his short life – the same time Hummel needed to regain control of his limbs and avoid crashing the bloody thing he was holding against his Audi.

Hummel really needed to thank someone up there that clearly loved him a lot. If he'd even so scratched the varnish of his car, he wouldn't have survived that day. Sebastian wouldn't either, but he would have made sure to have the time to kill Hummel before dying himself.

Kurt looked incredibly calm for someone that nearly saw his own death. Unluckily for him, Sebastian wasn't. To be completely honest, his heart had _just_ started beating again and he was pretty sure he was looking livid.

"Watch out, Hummel! You nearly ruined my baby with your stupid suitcase full of unnecessary girly clothes" he snarled, regardless of his previous plans of being civil. Dammit, he couldn't help it. They weren't even in the car yet and Hummel was already making him lose his head.

Kurt went rigid. He carefully put the suitcase inside the truck, now even more so, then slowly straightened up. "I won't tell you how fashion has no gender, nor will I inform you on the fact that I'm not wearing feminine clothes nor that that suitcase is full of Blaine's presents, but I will tell you this" Kurt suddenly turned to face him, his eyes as cold as steel. "Even _if_ I was wearing _girly clothes_ or taking them with me, as you assumed, I could always take them off, buy and put on some masculine ones. But you? Unfortunately, you can't change that shitface of yours. Think about this."

Sebastian was left speechless. Years had passed but Kurt Hummel's tongue was as blazing as always. That stung a little.

"You nearly ruined my car!" he angrily said, always keeping his voice low.

"I didn't!" Kurt snapped, his voice going deep in a way Sebastian didn't expect but definitely too loud for his taste.

" _Don't scream_ , Jesus, my brother is sleeping!"

Kurt's expression went from pissed off to confused. "Brother?"

.

 _Brother?_ Kurt hadn't been informed of the presence of _another_ Smythe boy. He wasn't exactly sure that he wanted to get on the damn car, now less than ever.

Sebastian sighed and nodded towards the car and Kurt sneaked a peek through the window of the backseats. There, sleeping angelically, there was the miniature version of Sebastian Smythe. They had the same color of hair, same color of the skin, possibly even the same eye color – he would discover that when he woke up. The only difference from his sibling was his harmlessness. But then again, who didn't look harmless when sleeping? He wished the little guy wasn't anything like Sebastianr.

Kurt turned to face him; he looked quite reluctant and unsure as he had never seen him before. "The name's Benjamin." He muttered, "But we call him Jay. And if you're wondering, no, it wasn't planned and yes, Blaine knows about this. So if you have a problem with him being with us, feel free to give me Blaine's presents and look for someone else to drive you there."

"I – _no_ , I don't have any problem" Kurt stuttered, kind of offended for Sebastian's defensive attitude. Kurt wasn't the one to attack, he would never be the one to do that, and it disturbed that Sebastian suddenly felt the _right_ to act like this, when he was usually the one to offend and aggress. And it kind of pissed him off the fact that Sebastian pictured him like someone who would argue the presence of a little _kid_ – him being Sebastian's brother or not.

"Good. Jump on the car." Sebastian only said, closing the door of the truck. Kurt nodded to himself, then he got on the car. Once he was seated and secured, Sebastian started the engine and Kurt realized it was the first time they were so close to one another in such a small place, with no one in between them.

They started driving. They got out of Lima, then took the direction that lead to the highway. All of this in the most sacred silence. Kurt had to admit that Sebastian didn't drive so badly – at least not as _fast_ as he'd thought. But maybe he was this careful because of his little brother in the backseat. Anyway, regardless of the stormy beginning, this departure was less terrible than how he feared, so far. That was probably due to the fact that neither of them could bitch about anything, as they kept doing what they were doing with their mouths shut – Sebastian was super focused on the road, dark and endless and clear, while Kurt distractedly looked out of the window and enjoyed the quietness that surrounded them.

Sebastian broke the silence after nearly half an hour into the trip, just as the sun started to peak through the horizon. "Listen, Hummel." He started, his voice hesitant and low as not to wake Benjamin up. "It probably will surprise you, but my brother is the sweetest and most honest little kid you'll ever meet, and I'm not saying this just because he is my brother. He's growing to be such a good person and he.. looks up to _me_. Let's just say, I don't want him to discover how much of a jerk I can be. And you know what it does to me when I'm with you."

Sebastian shot him a cautious look, just a brief glance to understand what was going through Kurt's head from his expression. Kurt wasn't sure of what Sebastian could see, since he himself didn't know what to think – not about all the "I don't want to look like a complete asshole in front of my _baby_ brother" thing, obviously, that he could understand. He just..had a hard time associating the Sebastian he knew with the image of a _caring person_. Or decent, really. The only thing he was sure of was that all of these changes of character from Sebastian's part were making his head hurt like a bitch.

"Now you can say something, you know."

"What should I say?" Kurt asked, defensive himself too. Kurt had been afraid Sebastian would push his limits, but _not_ in this way. He kept forcing new information on him and Kurt honestly didn't know what to make out of it. Especially when those new thoughts destroyed any pre-concepts he had.

"I don't know, _something_!"

"Well, _excuse me_ if I don't know what to think when suddenly you ask me to make you look like a decent human being!" he answered gritting his teeth.

"I didn't ask you to make me _look_ like one, just – just – _argh_! I just asked you not to do exactly _this_! But I guess it was just wishful thinking, wasn't it?" Sebastian spat, his voice cutting even though he was trying not to be loud.

"It's not my fault if you snaps at any given chance, Sebastian. Nor if I don't give you the answers _you_ expect me to give you." Sebastian opened his mouth to speak out, but Kurt interrupted him before he could even start. " _But_ I won't do anything to piss you off on purpose, if that's what you're scared off. I intend to make it out alive _and_ mentally sane from this trip." He concluded, turning to look at Sebastian. He didn't turn, but he nodded briefly.

"Okay" he simply replied, and with that silence was restored.

.

They were two hours into the trip and decided to stop for awhile at a gas station, just to stretch a little, order a quick coffee, use the bathroom and then switch the role.

In actual fact, it was _Kurt_ to insist they stopped and exchange tasks. Sebastian didn't have any problem with driving for awhile more, but he didn't want to argue with Hummel when he told him he didn't want to die because he let him drive while he was too tired to see straight. Sebastian conceded himself a lame joke about seeing gay, then tiredly agreed and pulled over at the first gas station. After all, he'd been driving for nearly four hours and he _was_ exhausted. No matter how jealous he was of his car, he needed to rest and pass the wheel.

"I'm just gonna go to the toilet and then grab a coffee. What do you want?" he asked, unfastening his belt. Kurt shrugged. "Coffee and some chips, maybe?"

Sebastian looked funnily at him. He always pictured Hummel as the salad type, super strict and obsessed with being healthy and all. He really didn't expect this.

Kurt looked back at him with an arched brow. "What? I'm on vacation, I'll just work out when I get back in New York, okay? Just go buy my fat food and don't judge me." He mumbled, crossing his arms against his chest.

Sebastian just lifted his hands in surrender, "Yes, sir" he joked. Kurt sent him his old death glare and Sebastian just smirked, quickly getting off the car and heading to the shop.

Kurt watched him go, still glaring intently like his eyes could actually set him on fire. It was just when Sebastian disappeared through the door of the shop that Kurt stopped. Finally "alone", he decided to check the phone. The inbox alert told him he had _sixteen_ unread texts. Kurt's brow went up as he opened them.

The first one was from Blaine.

 **Everything ok? Are you on the way? Love you xx**

Kurt quickly replied that everything was going fine so far and that they were taking a quick break, then he scrolled through the other texts he received. Most of them were from Rachel, while other two were from Santana. Kurt frowned. He opened the ones from Santana first. In the first one, she told him to have nice trip. The second one said just: **don't mind Berry lol**

Kurt quickly read Rachel's ones too. Hers were just a series of texts in capslock that literally screamed at him not to do anything she wouldn't do and reminded him that he hated ( **you hate him, Kurt!** ) Sebastian Smythe, but she especially pointed out that Santana was delusional. Delusional for what, Kurt wasn't aware, but that kind of reassured him. Santana's texts were out of the ordinary, since she rarely bothered to send him messages unless it was important; but she was probably bored out of her mind there at Blaine's grandparents without someone (him) to talk shit with, so she was probably making Rachel go crazy just for fun. She loved bullshitting her, though Kurt thought it was the weakest modus operandi to make someone fall for them. Which was always better than convincing the person you love to cheat on their boyfriend, but still.

He texted Rachel back, telling her he didn't receive any messages from Santana just to calm her down, then he put away his phone.

"Who are you?"

Kurt nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard someone speaking in his ear. Logically he should have guessed it was Sebastian's brother, but his heart wasn't cooperating, since it was trying to escape from his chest. "Oh my god. You nearly killed me" he breathed, turning to look at the little kid hugging his headrest.

Two stunning green eyes were curiously looking at him. He must be a very brave little guy, since he wasn't perturbed the least by the presence of a stranger in his brother's car. Unless he was used to see Sebastian's one night stands leaving the house, but Kurt refused to believe that, because it would have been too disgusting, even for Sebastian Smythe.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you." The little kid said, open and honest and completely at ease. Kurt couldn't do anything but notice how scarily similar Benjamin was to his older brother. He was like Sebastian's miniature: they had the same hair color, the same deep, soul catching green eyes and the same freckles sprinkled on their faces. But at the same time they were incredibly different – like they had to be, being different people, obviously. Benjamin had the purity that characterizes all the children, though he seemed pretty smart for his age; he was more open, and curious and less reluctant than his brother, who on the other end was sarcastic and bitter and just _acted_ like he didn't care.

"Are you friends with Sebby?" the kid asked, interrupting his brief reverie. Kurt composed himself and played distractedly with the watch on his wrist. Friends, he said? They weren't, but he really couldn't tell a little kid that his brother hated him and that the feeling was reciprocated. He settled for a: "We're..acquaintances."

"What does it mean?" the little kid asked, more curious than anything. Kurt felt like an idiot. He was talking with probably a five year old boy, for God's sake. He needed to lower his register a little bit.

"It means we've known each other for awhile, but we're not exactly close."

" _Acquaintances."_ The kid repeated slowly, like he wanted to try the taste of the word on his tongue. "My mum says Sebby is difficult to be friends with. He thinks I don't know it, but I do. She says that Blainey is a saint."

"Do you know Blaine?" Kurt asked, surprised. Sebastian told him Blaine knew about Benjamin's presence, but he didn't expect them to _know each other_ in person. But if he thought about it, it made sense. It was like expecting that Blaine and Finn never met. It was impossible.

Benjamin's eyes lit up. "Yes! He's my brother's best friend, but he's my friend too!"

Kurt smiled. "Blaine's my best friend too, you know. He was my boyfriend once."

"You're Kurt!" Benjamin suddenly exclaimed, slapping his hands on his mouth to cover his smile. "Blainey told me about you! But he told me not to tell Sebby he did! So please don't tell him!"

Kurt laughed. This kid was too precious to exist. Kurt was warming up to him pretty quickly and that didn't happen so often with little kids. "I won't tell him, I promise. We can pinky promise if you want."

Benjamin nodded. They linked their pinkies and shake them, then smiled to one another. "So, your brother told me your name is Benjamin."

"Yes, but friends call me Jay. So you call me Jay, because I like you." The kid said, with a confident nod and a smile.

Kurt's smile grow even bigger. "It's nice to know you, Jay. And I like you too."

 _Who would ever have thought that he would like a Smythe?_


End file.
